National Night Out a Success: There were more than 40 National Night Out events in the City of Lakewood on August 5th. Ambassadors from Lakewood's Promise, Kids at Hope, Communities in Schools of Lakewood, and Caring for Kids joined staff and volunteers from the Police Department, Lakewood Fire Department, and the State Department of Corrections for another successful neighborhood-based event. This year's theme was "Keeping Kids Safe."

Building Permit Activity:

Number of Building Permits Applied For

Number of Building Permits Issued

July 2007

188

140

July 2008

178

138

Land Use Permit Activity:

Number of Planning Permits Applied For

Number of Planning Permits Approved

July 2007

35

24

July 2008

19

15

Building Valuation Totals:

New Permit Valuation 2008

January

$15,685,286.56

February

$12,450,595.15

March

$1,627,552.41

April

$6,061,223.44

May

$36,562,115.77

June

$14,669,873.90

July

$2,922,675.55

Total

$89,979,322.78

Code enforcement update: As of August 8th, there have been a total of 227 code enforcement records entered for 2008. Of these, 50 have been closed, 55 are active, and 122 are pending. Code enforcement division staff and the assistant city attorney made a presentation at "Coffee with the Mayor" regarding the City's abatement program.

Transition to 800 MHZ: The Lakewood Police Department transitioned from their old VHF radio system to a new 800 MHZ System on Sunday August 3rd. The benefits of the new system include clearer, encrypted transmissions and none of the "dead" spots in the city where the officers' previous portable radios would not work. That was a frustrating and dangerous problem with the old system. The reviews for the new system by the officers on the street have been overwhelmingly positive since the transition. This is a major step forward in the public safety goal of interoperability.

Paint Lakewood Beautiful: City of Lakewood employees partnered with The Little Church on the Prairie this year to participate in the annual Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful project. It was a tremendous success with 17 City employees volunteering over 88 hours to prepare and paint a home in Lakewood. We received a thank you card from the very happy home owner. The staff volunteers included Debra Young, John Howard, Sharbra Scott, Stori Sanders, Dawn McGinnis, Livia Rodriguez, Mike Zaro, Nicole Revuelto (HR Volunteer), Choi Halladay, Tes Ongoco, Mary Dodsworth, Julie Skaw, Steve Mauer, Gail Connelly, and Melissa Wagner; and councilmembers Helen McGovern and Pad Finnigan.

Lakewood explorers at Emerald Downs and SeaFair: Chief Farrar received a letter from the Director of Security at Emerald Downs thanking him for the help received from our Explorers at their 4th of July annual fireworks display. The Explorers assisted the Emerald Downs Security Department with traffic and crowd control of over 20,000 people. In his letter, they stated that the event was accomplished "without injury or damage to either vehicles or pedestrians and egress went more smoothly and quickly than has happened since this event first began," and were so impressed with the Explorers that they generously donated $350 to the program. At SeaFair, the LPD Explorers assisted Seattle Police Department with security all weekend, and were credited with assisting a five-month pregnant woman to the medical station after she starting having complications. The event was a great success and provided excellent experience for the Explorers who were praised as behaving in an extremely professional manner.